# The underrated half bowl



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Dissertations on packing technique seem to invariably involve filling the bowl to the top, one way or another. Sometimes we see half bowls recommended for breaking in a pipe, with the implication that once that phase is finished half bowls are a thing of the past. However, this morning, facing the Paper Plate Potpouri, I discovered that its previous perfect state of dryness had gone the way of 94% humidity and a 71 degree dewpoint, now even wetter than it ever was fresh. Tobacco, even without PG (which the PPP has almost none of) is hydrophilic, and everything had become soft and moist.

Sometimes, when I am impatient, I'll smoke a too wet tobacco anyhow, but in those cases I load a half bowl. A simple gravity fill, followed by a tamp to the middle of the chamber, makes life a lot easier. The smoke is shorter, obviously, but with a half bowl all those nasty consequences of smoking tobacco that is too moist can be averted. There simply isn't time for the soggy dottle to develop, so it can be smoked to the bottom without incident.

Smoking a pipe half full is something I do a few times a week anyhow, even with tobacco in a perfect smokable state, for reasons other than avoiding a steamy smoke. I feel like smoking a particular pipe, but I know that it will take at least an hour to finish and I don't want to spend the time. Or I want a little something different, but don't want a whole bowl of it, say Irish Flake before I've eaten lunch or a bit of an aromatic that I know will cloy before I'm done -- time for a half bowl!

Many of those new to a pipe would be well served to enjoy a few more half fills: 1. It easily seasons the bottom of the pipe and less experienced pipers tend to dump wet dottles and leave the heel to fester in juice. 2. It makes for a simple, trouble free pack that still delivers a decent smoke.

True, the flavorful wonders of the nether regions during a fully loaded and technically well-executed smoke are lost, but _tempis fugit_ and sometimes there is insufficient time for such a luxury.


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## canadianpiper (Nov 27, 2010)

I on the otherhand smoke half bowls almost exclusivly since the arrival of my child, there just isnt enough un interupted time in the day for me to enjoy full bowls. Now I know I can let it sit and relight but I enjoy going to the bottom and then moving on to a different blend..


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## jfdiii (Nov 12, 2010)

I used to do the 3 step pack that I learned when first starting the pipe and suffered from an abundance of soggy dottle and a steamy smoke. Half bowls went a long way towards fixing that.


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## Diodon nepheligina (Nov 5, 2009)

freestoke said:


> Tobacco, even without PG (which the PPP has almost none of) is hydrophilic


while true, I think you mean hygroscopic...oke:

Teasing aside, you are absolutely right. There is no reason to feel obligated to fill the bowl if you are going to end up wishing it would hurry up and end in the bottom half!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Diodon nepheligina said:


> while true, I think you mean hygroscopic...oke:


As soon as my RG button clears, you're next up, BJ! Almost certainly one of the few on the group who could work out your handle (2 years of Homeric and Attic Greek), I also genuinely appreciate this correction -- especially with a Greek word!! :tu. I need to go find all those places I've misused it and create an _Errata_ thread for them! :lol:

PS: I had to discover the Diodon/Puffer fish connection, even though I got "two-tooth".


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## El Gringo (Nov 30, 2010)

I also do 1/2 bowls, but about 1/2 the time.


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## Fordun (Apr 30, 2011)

I know a friend of mine who smokes a half bowl all the time but me i almost never smoke a half bowl if i want to smoke a half bowl i pack a full bowl before bed and smoke half of it now and the other half in the morning.


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

I would have a nicotine fit if I smoked just half a bowl.


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## Marc Romero (Aug 13, 2011)

I just smoke smaller bowled pipes when time does not allow for a longer smoke.


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